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Dersim Mayor Mehmet Fatih Maçoğlu and 50 members of Federation of Dersim Associations (DEDEF) visited Metropolitan Mayor of İstanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu and congratulated him on his election win today (August 15).
Receiving his guests at his office in İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality in Saraçhane, İmamoğlu also hosted his guests from Dersim at the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipal Assembly Hall.
Emphasizing that they will make citizens feel the "sense of equality" with the policies that they will adopt, İmamoğlu said, "The notion of justice is very important in realizing it" and added, "We will work very hard. We will consult you. We will, of course, share it with our friends who are representatives here. We will consult them and walk on this road together. Social mechanisms will operate in making a social decision here, you will see that."
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'We will, of course, step on some feet'
Continuing his remarks, İmamoğlu said,
"We will, of course, step on some feet. We will stand as a wall before some people. But, we will never abandon our path. Because we have come into office by making such statements, by putting forward our ideals.
"I wanted to say it especially before the people of Tunceli who have ushered in exemplary beginnings and practices with their unique attitude and mature stance towards politics. You are the individuals of a city, a community that strikes a special attitude in that regard. I am talking about a community, a society with a strong pursuit and inspective look.
"We will consult with you. We will, of course, consult our friends who are representatives here. We will consult them and walk on this road together."
Emphasizing that the attitude, behavior, difference and inclusion created by Maçoğlu will motivate people, İmamoğlu added, "I know that our mayor has started a campaign that will include his townspeople in the process. This inclusionary attitude of his is important. I think he believes that I am also included in it as someone from Tunceli, from Dersim."
Maçoğlu: We could not come here for 25 years
Dersim Mayor Maçoğlu also made the following remarks:
"When we come here with our friends, we see here as a place that belongs to us. We could not come here for 25 years. We did not know that such doors existed. Our executive friends can quite easily use these desks. It means that a sense of belonging has developed, they embrace the place in question. They have been a close follower of this process. It is very important for us that we have four friends, four representatives here.
"There are hundreds of thousands of people who have emigrated from Dersim and left their own lands. Even 10 percent of them do not live in Dersim today. But, a great majority of them are in İstanbul now. I would like to say that around 280-300 thousand of them are here.
"Believe me that their faces are towards the light and democracy. They have always acted within the boundaries of this understanding. That people of Dersim are in İstanbul will give us great support for you and us in the future. They will offer services in the way going to the aim." (AÖ/SD)
